High dental problems in the rural areas, has been blamed on the concentration of dentists in the urban centres. Speaking at the 17th Annual Congress of the Ghana Dental Association, GDA, its President Eric Asamoah said 80 per cent of dentist are stationed in the urban areas. He said though Ghana and Australia comparatively have the same population size, the patient dental ratio for Australia is much higher than that of Ghana.
He noted that a large number of Ghanaians do not have Oral Care and that has increased the number of dental ill health. The Deputy Minister for Health, Gladys Norley Ashitey noted steps her ministry is taking to intensify in-service training for dentists. Mrs. Norley Ashitey said her Ministry is educating students on Oral Health Care and its advantages. A representative from Uniliver, Nana Yaa Kisi said Unilever has a long partnership with the GDA to help deliver quality Oral Health Care. She said oral health care should be a right and not a privilege.
Nana Yaa Kisi said the key challenge the company is facing is counterfeiting of products especially tooth paste noting that many unlicensed tooth paste are being sold on the market and most of them cause damage to the teeth. She said Unilever is working with security agencies to put an end to these practices.
